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Further education

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Original poster

Do employers have to give time off for work experience?

32 replies

Rollergirl11 · 27/03/2023 16:41

Just that really. DD is in Year 12 and has her compulsory work experience week in June. She won’t be available for one of her shifts at work as a result. Her work colleagues say she will have to take the day as annual leave. Is that the case? One of the teachers at her college told DD that employers have to permit time off for educational purposes. As far as I’m aware Work experience is mandatory for all students across Year 12 so will it fall under this or will she have to take as annual leave?

OP posts:
HermioneWeasley · 27/03/2023 16:52

I am not aware of any requirement to offer paid time off so someone can attend work experience elsewhere. Why wouldn’t she take annual leave?

Original poster
Rollergirl11 · 27/03/2023 16:58

She’s not expecting it to be paid leave, is more than happy for it to be unpaid. It’s just she doesn’t have much holiday entitlement as it is and thought it seemed unfair to use a day for something she is obligated to do by her school setting.

OP posts:
Myneighboursnorlax · 27/03/2023 17:04

Can she not work there that day as part of the work experience? If work experience is for them to “experience work”, she’ll be doing that by sticking to her existing work commitments. When I was at school (a while ago now!) any students who already had jobs were allowed to work there during that week (if the shifts were available)

PlateBilledDuckyPerson · 27/03/2023 17:05

How bonkers it sounds for someone to have to miss a shift of actual work for 'work experience'. I get that the work experience is likely to be in the field of a long term career and thus valuable, but you'd have thought there might be some flexibility with the work experience to do the shift and make up the time.

EgyptAdvice · 27/03/2023 17:09

Don't be daft of course she has to take annual leave

Bunnyannesummers · 27/03/2023 18:09

there is no requirement for employers to offer time off for education related commitments (other than apprenticeships) -to be blunt the education of their employees isn’t their responsibility.

she could ask for annual leave or unpaid, as is the case for any occasion you can’t work your assigned shifts

GoodChat · 27/03/2023 18:13

Don't be absurd. She's turning down paid work for unpaid work.

Unless she's on a course that requires placements in certain industries, she's already getting work experience.

And if she is, she needs to book time off or swap shifts.

Nimbostratus100 · 27/03/2023 18:16

what job is it she id doing? If she is in year 12, surely it is a zero hours contract?

Original poster
Rollergirl11 · 27/03/2023 19:02

I agree it’s a bit ridiculous.

She’s a supermarket assistant at a big chain supermarket, contracted to a specific number of hours over 2 set shifts.

The work experience has to be for 5 days Monday to Friday on set dates given by the college. I think it’s the same week nationally. DD has managed to secure a place in a setting/company she is very interested in career wise. Everything has had to be entered in to some software used by the college (Unifrog) that then emails the contacts given to confirm the placement is all above board and actually happening and to check the relevant risk assessments/health & safety/insurance is in place. In other words she cannot just not go in that day.

OP posts:
titchy · 27/03/2023 19:10

There is no national requirement for work experience in year 12! She could just not go for that day, given she's giving up paid work to do it.

That said if it's something she's interested in and somewhere that might give her paid work or a paid internship, then it's probably worth losing a days pay from the supermarket.

Isahlo · 27/03/2023 19:12

Her work are BU not to allow her unpaid leave

XanaduKira · 27/03/2023 19:17

It should be annual leave. Not sure why anyone thinks otherwise?!

Original poster
Rollergirl11 · 27/03/2023 19:17

That said if it's something she's interested in and somewhere that might give her paid work or a paid internship, then it's probably worth losing a days pay from the supermarket.

She would be totally happy to take the day as unpaid. She just doesn’t really want to have to use a day of annual leave in order to be able to do it. And of course there is no obligation for her work to even agree to the days holiday. They may very well say no and then I don’t know where that leaves her.

I didn’t realise it wasn’t compulsory nationally. That is certainly how the school/college have framed it.

OP posts:
Hellocatshome · 27/03/2023 19:19

Of course it has to be annual leave. Work experience in year 12 isn't compulsory. If the employer felt like being generous they could give it as unpaid leave but they certainly don't have to and this is certainly not a hill to die on.

Quveas · 27/03/2023 19:23

Whether it is compulsory or not is irrelevant. She isn't entitled to paid time off. So whether it is unpaid leave or annual leave is a decision her employer decides, and she needs to discuss it with them.

Original poster
Rollergirl11 · 27/03/2023 19:25

Ahh okay, sounds like college are being slightly economical with the truth. We have definitely been led to believe that it’s a national requirement whereas it’s becoming clear it is just them enforcing it.

OP posts:
GoodChat · 27/03/2023 19:25

I'm sure someone will be willing to swap shifts with her.

NoTouch · 27/03/2023 19:25

She has an employment contract, so most likely she will need to take as a holiday and her employer is not being unreasonable to expect. When there are hundreds of staff in a large supermarket to manage it can become difficult if you allow everyone flexibility instead of sticking to their fixed hours.

Is she allowed to swap shifts with another employee if she can find someone willing to cover for her?

Ask her teacher to point her to the law/regs where it says they have to give her time off for work experience (bet she can't).

She doesn't appear to fall into any of these categories - https://www.gov.uk/training-study-work-your-rights

Rainbowshine · 27/03/2023 19:31

I think this is an opportunity to show her that annual leave isn’t just about using it for fun things, sometimes you need to use it for serious reasons, which is good work experience in itself. Balancing the amount of leave you have and planning how to take it and keeping some in reserve in case you need it.

Verylongtime · 27/03/2023 19:37

I’m not aware that work experience is compulsory in y12. My DDs certainly didn’t do it, but they were at school a couple of years ago. They did do work experience, but I think it might have been y10.

Original poster
Rollergirl11 · 27/03/2023 20:02

@Rainbowshine she is definitely struggling with this aspect of having a job. Between days needed for our family summer holiday, a festival/few gigs and university open days she has hardly anything left!

OP posts:
Rainbowshine · 27/03/2023 20:06

In that case can she swap shifts/days or even ask for unpaid leave? Sometimes it is a choice between doing the thing that you need to do and making a sacrifice elsewhere, and that’s something she will have to deal with as an adult

Hellocatshome · 27/03/2023 20:07

Rollergirl11 · 27/03/2023 20:02

@Rainbowshine she is definitely struggling with this aspect of having a job. Between days needed for our family summer holiday, a festival/few gigs and university open days she has hardly anything left!

Welcome to life. They are all things she wants to do and therefore what annual leave should be used for.

Viviennemary · 27/03/2023 20:10

Most reasonable employers would allow the time off as unpaid leave if they are given enough notice. Or maybe she can make the hours up if she doesn't want to use annual leave.

Nimbostratus100 · 27/03/2023 20:37

Rollergirl11 · 27/03/2023 19:17

That said if it's something she's interested in and somewhere that might give her paid work or a paid internship, then it's probably worth losing a days pay from the supermarket.

She would be totally happy to take the day as unpaid. She just doesn’t really want to have to use a day of annual leave in order to be able to do it. And of course there is no obligation for her work to even agree to the days holiday. They may very well say no and then I don’t know where that leaves her.

I didn’t realise it wasn’t compulsory nationally. That is certainly how the school/college have framed it.

If they refuse to give her leave, and the work experience is important to her, she should just go anyway, and deal with the consequences later. You can take an employer too seriously